102 Not Out Turns 6: When Amitabh Bachchan Turned Music Composer For Film

Umesh Shukla’s 101 Not Out featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor as father and son turns six today (May 4). Do you know Amitabh Bachchan had actually composed a song for this quirky comedy?

Earlier in an interview with Zoom, Amitabh Bachchan revealed, “Badumba Zumba Zumba was an afterthought by me . During the last day of the shooting on an open balcony, it started raining and we just broke for a while to run to a shade. That is when I told Umeshji(director Umesh Shukla) that we need to have a song for the film because music is an attraction these days for films. Ours being, an old-age home kind of film, I felt it would enhance the positioning of the film.

However, the director didn’t quite agree with Big B. He further added, “Umeshji said there was no space for a song. I said. ‘Ok, let me compose something and play it for you and then you decide.’ So I went into a studio, composed the song, arranged a rough music to it and sang it. When Umeshji heard it they all liked it, but because there was no space in the film we decided to use it as a promotional song. Subsequently, now it is in the film.”

Big B further revealed, “I have composed several songs in the past too. In my 1981 film Kaalia(directed by Tinnu Anand), the song Jahan teri yeh nazar hai meri jaan mujhe khabar hai was given by me to Pancham(composer R D Burman). Then Baghban had several of my compositions. Baabul too… I did the Hanuman Chalisa with my late much-missed friend composer Aadesh Shrivastava.”

Though Amitabh Bachchan dismisses his singing and compositional abilities he reveals big musical plans. “My compositions are of no singing value. I am quite hopeless “

He has great fun playing the 102-year-old fun father. As his character Dattatraya Vakharia, he doesn’t hold back the emotional outpourings of a heart bursting with paternal pride which won’t allow the son to snivel grovel plead and whine before a son who has migrated to a foreign land leaving his father to pine for that one phonecall every 3 months.

Rishi Kapoor played the old emotional fool with a restrain that wouldn’t be a problem on stage. He makes his character’s transparent emotions swell up to a crescendo and then pulls back just in time before getting excessively maudlin. As the masti-khor father Amitabh Bachchan is so clued to his character’s effervescence it feels like he was floating on a substance that man has yet to produce. The two super-accomplished actors ensure the interest level never drops.